Transbian Studio got some more new gear

Late last year I decided to create a home recording studio to start working on demos of my songs. Today I got a needed piece of gear, and my studio is almost ready to begin laying down new tracks.

I started with a Fender Mustang Micro headphone amp and Bandlab. Bandlab is an online service that helps music creators lay down tracks wherever they are. Earlier this year, I added a Focusrite Scarlett Solo Studio, a single-channel audio interface combined with a condenser microphone and a pair of headphones. Last month, I got my System76 Darter Pro laptop, but I knew the speakers were an issue. I had figured I’d use the headphones a lot, although I hate living with headphones on, especially with my tinnitus.

Today I was able to unpack a pair of M-Audio BX3 self-powered reference monitor speakers. I had to clear off my desk to find room for them, and I need a stand to raise the speakers (and laptop) to the proper level.

This is my new setup with an early set of tracks of Somewhere Someone Cares that I made in Bandlab.

Transbian Studio with the new speakers and "Somewhere Someone Cares" tracks in Bandlab

I still need to finalize my recording software for the studio. I looked at using AV Linux MX Edition, but it’s having issues with my wifi and Bluetooth. If I can’t get those resolved I’m going to add my recording software to my current combination of Pop!_OS 22.04 and KDE Plasma 5.

My new laptop has arrived

I’m thrilled to say that my new computer has arrived. It took two tries, but I am the proud owner of a System76 Darter Pro laptop.

Unexpected lines visible when I first powered up the original version of my new laptopThe computer originally arrived two weeks ago, but as soon as I turned it on, I noticed some glitches. It turns out that there were lines down the screen, which made using it pretty tough on my eyes. But when System76 saw the lines they started the replacement process immediately without any hassles. They even provided a prepaid label for returning the old laptop, which I expected since it was custom-made to my specs. I ended up shipping the laptop back even as they were building the new one, and both laptops arrived at their destinations yesterday. You can get a better look at the issue below on the Firefox Privacy Notice on the Mozilla website.

A better view of the lines down the screen as seen on on the Mozilla website

When I spec’d out the new laptop I had it come with Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS, which is based on Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish), but putting my beloved KDE on it was pretty easy as I followed these instructions. I’m not a fan of Gnome, Pop!OS’ default desktop environment (DE), so installing KDE Plasma 5.24.7 was pretty much required for me. KDE Plasma 6 has been released, but it’s not available in my repositories yet.

System76 is working on its own DE, Cosmic, but it’s not ready for distribution yet. I may give it a shot when it drops, but I’ve been a KDE girl for over a decade so it’s what I’m used to using.

I hoped to give AV Linux MX Edition (AVL) a spin on the new laptop, but it turns out there’s a known issue with coreboot, the BIOS system on my laptop, and USB 2.0 devices like my flash drive. I’m in touch with tech support and we’re working on the issue. I may have to get a newer flash drive to use, but that won’t be a problem.

Since the new laptop will become my main computer, I’m transferring all my music, images, and other files to the new laptop. I’m moving a handful of files via a flash drive (not my AVL drive), but transferring over 200 GB of music via a flash drive is a pain in the arse. I found a faster way to transfer the files, but it’s still a long process.

Unfortunately, this means that getting more pictures of Babe’s babies is on hold until I get the new laptop set up. I can do some prep work on my old computer, but I’m holding off so I can do it all on the faster computer.

I’ve already installed several programs I use regularly on the new laptop, but once I finish transferring files over I’ll get back to installing programs, including Second Life and my digital audio workstation (DAW) programs. I’m hopeful that it won’t take until Labor Day to start laying down tracks again, but I’m planning on having preliminary mixes of my song Somewhere Someone Cares shared by All Hallow’s Eve.

I shot an unboxing video for the new laptop, and I’ll get those files on the new laptop and get them edited and posted to my YouTube channel.

New new laptop with the logo for Transbian Studio, my home recording studio, as the wallpaper

Huge thanks to the person who paid for the new laptop. I knew pretty quickly that my old laptop wasn’t capable of doing audio recording, and without their gift, I’d be without a way to get my music to new ears.

My Two Lives has a new look

As I’ve uploaded pictures and videos to Flickr and YouTube, I decided it was time to update the logo and branding for the site. I’m glad to be able to present a new look for My Two Lives across my various platforms.

Logo for Transbian Studio, my home recording studioAs I started setting up my home recording studio I created a logo for the studio, even though I’ll probably be the only person recording racks in it. It’s visible in the photo on that article as the bug in the lower right corner, and it’s based on the transbian (transgender lesbian) flag that HunterCatato shared on Reddit. I also included pictures of the Squier Strat and microphone I use.

The New Logo

The rebranded logo for the site uses the transbian flag and adds a Fender Stratocaster icon to represent my music, a cat icon for my request posts everywhere about the feline overlords in my house, and an icon with someone jumping into their computer screen to represent my use of the Second Life virtual worlds and communities.

My Two Lives logo (YouTube version)

I created the basic logo was created with the logo maker from Namecheap. the company that handles the hosting for my various websites. In the coming weeks, my YouTube channel will carry the My Two Lives moniker, and you can find my photostream on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmhardin/. (Yes. it changed with the rebranding. I’m updating the links where needed.)

Follow me on the things

There are so many things coming up this summer, and I hope you’ll follow My Two Lives on all the things so you don’t miss anything. You’ll notice I don’t have any links to X (née Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram. Those platforms have been taken over so much by haters that both as a trans person and as someone who cares about those who are voiceless, I refuse to give them my time or my data. I’m too old and do too many things to have the energy to deal with that kind of [Nan-E filter]male cow droppings[/Nan-E filter].

I’m now on Flickr

I’ve been on Flickr for a while for my Second Life avatar’s store, Nanci’s Naughties. But I realized I should also have one to share pictures from my First Life as well.

JM Hardin on FlickrToday I created a new account on Flickr where you can find photos of me, my music, and the food I enjoy. Of course, it will also have photos of Babe, my upstairs neighbor’s feline overlord. She has run of the house and can’t have an account for sharing my photos without having my cat photos.

You can find my photos on Flickr, and feel free to follow me there. There’s no telling what I’ll post photos of next. Or when.

Home Studio Update: The hardware is in

(The links in this article go to product pages on Musician’s Friend, my preferred source for all my music gear. Musician’s Friend doesn’t have an affiliate program, so I don’t make a commission if you buy from my links.)

Me at my new microphone as if laying down a vocal trackWith today’s delivery of my mic stand and accessories, my home studio hardware is in and ready for recording vocals and guitar parts. My next task: To get the software tweaked so everything plays well with others. Then I can start laying down tracks.

My audio interface is the Focusrite Scarlett Solo Studio (3rd Gen) with the Scarlett Solo interface, the CM25 MkIII condenser microphone, and a pair of HP60MkIII headphones. The mic stand is a fixed boom stand from Musician’s Gear, as is the pop filter, and the shockmount is a Sabra SSM-1 Universal Shockmount.

Holy fuque

The court case I’m on the jury for got a continuance to next week, and tonight I could work on my music again in preparation for trying to lay down some demos. My first demo is going to be of my song Somewhere Someone Cares, which featured prominently in my short story He’s With the Band, but I had never managed to work out the chord progression for the chorus or the bridge.

I was a piano player when I first wrote the song, but it really needs a band to play it, especially since the main theme works better on guitars than on a piano. I’ve never had a band of my own, so the song has never been performed. Since it’s never been performed, I’ve never worked out the chords for the whole song. The verse chords are pretty much locked down, although may I need to change one of the B-section chords. I had an idea of what the chords would be for the chorus, but they never felt quite right.

Tonight I pulled out my guitar and folding keyboard and worked out what the chords should be for the chorus. Having all the chords written out, I ran through the solo section and got to work on the bridge. Amazingly enough, the bridge looks like it’s just two chords repeated.  I looked at changing the chords for the second line of the bridge, but it ended up just trying to be more complex than it really needs to be. Of course, being a good proggish song, the key changes a bit. Am for the A-section of the verse, Dm for the B-section, straight A major for the chorus, and Dm for the bridge. I guess my love for progressive rock came out a bit for this song.

Now all I need to do is get my computer ready to lay down some tracks and learn how to play it well enough to record them. And, Goddess help me, I need to work on the vocals as I come up with a way to lay them down. I haven’t done any proper singing in over 20 years. Yipes!

And I still need to work on the other song I want to make a demo for. That tune needs a ton of prep work, especially since it may be a hard rock song with a Hammond B3-ish track and some synth tracks to try and pass for a good R&B horn section. Why on earth can I not write simple songs that are easy to do demos of? (laughter)

If you want to get updates on the songs and be able to find out where to hear them, watch this space. I hope to have a demo of Somewhere Someone Cares finished by the time Ncuti Gatwa’s first full season of Doctor Who drops in May.

Happy Old Year!

I meant to write a post for the end of 2023, but I didn’t get it finished to share it before the year ended. I have jury duty, and I finally got picked for a trial, so my time for doing things online is a lot leaner than it usually is. Still, I wanted to share a few things before we got too far into January 2024.

Sportsball

I’m still kind of amazed at the fact that my Bois en Bleu, the Los Angeles Dodgers, not only signed Shohei Ohtani but they also won the Yoshinobu Yamamoto lottery. They also got Tyler Glasnow and Manuel Margot, and Mookie Betts will be the regular second baseman in 2024. Unfortunately, between the new signings and the expected return of Gavin Lux, who spent 2023 on the IL recovering from a torn ACL, it looks like Kiké Hernádez won’t be back in Dodger Blue in 2024. Hopefully, his improved performance back in LA will help him get the contract he deserves.

The next cause of worry is super utility player Chris Taylor. If Miguel Rojas is the everyday starter at short and Teoscar Hernández is the everyday left fielder, CT3 could have to go back to riding the pine most of the season. Chris is always to contribute wherever he’s needed, but I’m disappointed that he’s back to being a backup instead of a starter.

And we still have to see what Clayton Kershaw is going to do. He isn’t as dominant as he used to be, and he’s been spending more time on the IL with each season. I hope he gives one more season to LA and doesn’t retire or, even worse, finish out his career in Texas. It’s rare to have a player spend their entire career with a single team, but seeing Kersh in another uniform would look even more weird than seeing Cody Bellinger in a Cubs uniform.

My Die-With-a-T

In the spring, I got referred to a new doctor who put me on the Mediterranean Diet. I quickly remembered a Garfield comic strip from the 70s where he called a diet “a die-wih-a-t.” I told my doctor that the things I would need to get at the grocery store for the diet are pretty expensive for someone on disability, and I was right. While I did pretty well on it for the first few months, but my budget got stretched so thin that it was hard to get the good food I should be eating all month. Grocery prices may still be going down, but it’s still hard to make sure I have decent food to eat all month, and I’ve noticed myself getting less nutritious food to complete menus for any given month. The fact that I’m still a fiend for good fried chicken doesn’t help.

Social Media

I thought I had found a great social media platform to use after Elon Musk bought (and trashed) the bird platform. After the attacks of 7 October, I discovered that my support of the civilians living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank wasn’t very welcome there. I refuse to use any platform owned by Meta due to all the hate and BS, so I’m basically off of social media. It’s good though, because it freed up some time in my days for other things.

Second Life

I still need to reopen my virtual t-shirt store in Second Life, and I’m moving my real-life merchandise back to Spreadshirt this year. If you want to keep up with the happenings with my merch, you can keep an eye on things on the Nanci’s Naughties website. When I get my Spreadshop set back up, I’ll announce it there. With the war in the Gaza Strip expected to continue for several months, I’m considering adding the virtual posters I made to support the Palestinians to my real-world store. I really should have done that a few months ago, and I don’t want it to seem like I’m trying to make money off the Palestinians’ suffering. I simply want to give people a way to show their support for people who are routinely treated like they’re poop that needs to be scraped off a person’s shoe.

As I wrote in May, I am the proud owner of a virtual bowling center in Second Life, the Pride Lanes Bowling Center. It’s not a very busy place, and I need to look at giving more folks reasons to visit. I tried using a machine to give out free Linden dollars (the currency in Second Life) to get people to go to the bowling center, but they only stayed around long enough to get paid. If you like to bowl in real life and you’re in Second Life, I hope you’ll head over to Pride Lanes and see how much fun bowling in Second Life can be You don’t even need to worry about renting bowling shoes, and I’ve even bowled in high heels without twisting an ankle or falling on my arse.

Kitties!

I’ve loved cats my whole life, but my budget is usually so tight that Abe Lincoln has gotten laryngitis from screaming so much. As a result, I haven’t felt I could be a good primary human to a feline. Earlier this year, my upstairs neighbor catsit for someone in the hospital, and Mr. Jack came down often to spend time in my half of the house. When Jack went back to his primary human, my neighbor realized he really liked cats after always preferring dogs. One of my neighbor’s friends heard there was a pair of abandoned kittens in New York, and the kitties moved in upstairs. It was a brother and sister, Tommy and Babe, but Tommy got too aggressive, so he had to go to a new home. It worked out better because Tommy thrives in his new home, and is loved by everyone in his new building.

I’ve become Babe’s “aunt,” and she’s gotten the run of the entire place. She comes down several times daily to see what’s happening downstairs, and I spoil her with treats and toys from time to time. Her primary human doesn’t have a climbing toy upstairs, so I built her a cat condo from cardboard boxes. She now has several places to get a nap, and she loves having a maze and a higher place to sit.

I’ve started posting some videos of Babe to my YouTube channel, and I have a video of her getting introduced to snow that I need to get online. Many felines like the snow, but Babe isn’t one of them. I was surprised at how fast she turned around when she got off the porch.

Music

As I said in May, I started working on a pair of songs I had written years ago. Life got in the way, and neither song has a demo recorded. I finally worked on the second song again last month, and the chord progression for the song’s intro reminds me of the solo section of Del Shannon’s Runaway. The melodies are very different, but the underlying chord progressions are similar. I hope I can share it before it’s time to celebrate Pride Month.

My computer

Last month, I did something terrible to my computer and had to do a clean install of SolydK Linux. I’m not saying what I did because I’m not sure what I did, but I was losing available disk space at a prodigious speed. Having to do a clean install of my daily work computer wasn’t a great thing to have to do, especially since I had to get into Second Life every day to get goodies from advent calendars.

I finally reinstalled some software to record demos of my music, but I still need to get fully set up for recording. The plan is to write an article on what I installed once I have something musical to share with it. I still need to get some gear to make proper recordings, but with my tight budget, I plan on seeing what my current setup can do. I’m going to see if I can use my Fender Mustang Micro headphone amp and my phone to record some guitar tracks. I miss making music, both from the creative and production sides. I was a recording engineer when I lived in New Orleans, but it was hard to get a job at a studio with all the students in Boston when I moved up here in 1989.

What does 2024 have in store?

I hope I can be even more productive in 2023 than I was in 2023. Once the trial I’m on the jury for finishes, I’ll be able to create a decent working routine. I hope to give you more reasons to visit My Two Lives in the coming year. There is a whole heap of question marks ahead of us between the US elections, the war in Palestine, and life’s seeming predisposition to throw more on our plates than we thought we could handle. Remember, you’re better than you think you are. You’re worth more than you think you are. You’re more loved and appreciated than you probably know. The more the haters want to put you down, the higher the possibility that they’re trying to keep you from knowing the full value of your being on this planet.

I have pretty being busy lately

Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy anything from these links I may receive a commission on your purchase.

JM Hardin in May, 2023I haven’t posted anything here in quite a while, but that hasn’t meant I haven’t been doing anything. After getting new web hosting from Namecheap, I moved My Two Lives to a different product within the Namecheap family. The new product allows hosting for not only My Two Lives but also my Second Life store, Nanci’s Naughties, and due to having way too much on my plate, I just got Nanci’s Naughties back up this week.

Sports!

Some people know of my love for tenpin bowling, but I haven’t visited a bowling center since I was in Guam with the Air Force in 1987. Being on a fixed income makes visiting a bowling center in Boston difficult financially, so in March I decided to see what options are available for virtual bowling in Second Life. I found the Bergson Bowling System, which does more than let me bowl inworld. It also lets people lay out lanes for their own use.

Pride Lanes Bowling Center logoRather than just setting up a lane for myself, I created a bowling center anyone could use. It’s the Pride Lanes Bowling Center, and you can find out more about it at PrideLanesSL.online. Pride Lanes has a tent at this year’s Second Pride, and I’m working on some merch that will connect Nanci’s Naughties, Pride Lanes, Second Pride, and global LGBTQ+ life. Once it’s available I’ll announce it over on the Nanci’s Naughties website.

I’m making music again

Clara, my Squire StratocasterWhen I bought my Squire Stratocaster back in 2020, I knew I wanted to work on an original song I got the idea for in a practice room at the Longy School of Music back in 1996. It started as a cool riff with a soul gospel feel, and it became a whole bluesy song in late 1999, but it’s more of a guitar song than a keyboard song, so it just got tucked away in my proverbial drawer. When I got my Strat, I knew I wanted to develop the song, and last year I started working on a demo for the song. The demo still isn’t finished because I never get enough time for playing my guitar, but now that I’m getting things off my plate I hope to get back to working on that soon.

Early this year I was thinking of a Christian rock song I wrote in the early naughts. As an ex-vangelical I won’t use the lyrics anymore, but I love the music I came up with for it, so I’m going to put together a demo on BandLab. I’ll publish the song on BandLab for someone to write new lyrics for and use. Of course, there’s not enough time in the day to do everything, and my brain can play the guitar a hell of a lot better than my fingers can, so it’s another song that’s going to be a work in progress for a while.

Et cetera

There are many things going on in my life that I won’t talk about here, and with warmer weather arriving in Boston I hope to spend more time outside this summer, even if it’s just out on my porch. Yes, I’m a big old homebody, so I tend to stick around Château Hardin unless I have to make groceries, run an errand or five, or go the medico folks. But that works pretty well for me since I’m also a huge night owl, and I’m usually going to bed when the morning news folks are getting up. There are also days when I’ve kicked myself because the sun is going down as I’m going to bed, but the only problem there is that by the time I get up I’ve missed most of the daytime.

I’m going to leave you with a meme posted by someone last year on a social media platform I used to use. It’s something I need to remind myself of every now and then, and I’m not the only one who needs it.

Life is too short to worry about what others think about you. So have fun and give them something to talk about.

This site has a new identity

As you probably noticed the site is no longer called Words from an Author. This is because I haven’t been doing much writing in a while and it felt wrong to have a site about my writing that isn’t getting written.

The site is now a more general site as I look at both my real life and my adventures in the virtual world Second Life (SL). You’ll still see my updates about life as a trans woman, but I’ll probably be posting more about SL. You can still find my ebooks in the menu at the top of the page, and who knows, there may be an addition to my books at some point.

I’ve also changed the theme for the site, and I may change it again if I find a theme I like better. What won’t change? The URL for the site. It’ll still be jmhardinwrites.wordpress.com. I hope you stick around.